Among main United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) roles is to build up social capacities through the exchange of knowledge in a spirit of solidarity, especially between developed and developing countries. Since 1992, UNESCO has been achieving this goal through the UNITWIN (university education twinning and networking scheme) programme. The Programme operates through the establishment of UNESCO chairs and UNESCO networks. UNESCO Chairs are awarded to higher education institutions and research centres and institutions to support programs that further research and training in one of UNESCO's fields of competence.
As a confirmation of CEP's proper approach to the issues of development of education and efforts invested in researches in education, UNESCO awarded to CEP a UNESCO Chair in Development of Education: Research and Institutional Building in February 2008. The Chair-holder is Professor Srbijanka Turajlić. The purpose of the Chair is to promote an integrated system of research, training, information and documentation in the field of education. Furthermore, the Chair facilitates collaboration between experts, internationally recognized researchers and teaching staff of CEP and other institutions in Serbia. The objective of the Chair's activities is to contribute to the improvement of the overall research capacities of Serbia, to contribute to the development and improvement of the education system through scientific research by collecting and disseminating information and building human resources in the field of education policy and development. The main activities of the Chair are publishing relevant books, organisation of expert meetings, conferences and seminars on education issues, collecting relevant documents and texts on education development and education policy, organisation of education programmes, etc. Generally, UNESCO chairs are designated to universities and research institutes. As far as we know, CEP is a sole non-governmental organisation awarded by the UNESCO Chair. Until the beginning of 2008, i.e. until it ceased to exist, it was Alternative Academic Educational Network (AAEN), with the UNESCO Chair in Governance and Management of Higher Education.
For more information on UNESCO chairs, the following links can be useful: